Hello!

[daisy]

Hi all! I am in the midst of a get-in-shape and weight loss adventure. I'm female, mid-30s, 5'6", and weigh 166 pounds, down from 184 (or maybe higher, ugh) in the winter. My body fat percentage is around 30% right now.

I wanted to get in shape this winter and started back with running, but had to stop because of plantar fasciitis. I started a local fitness bootcamp for women, and it's been fantastic. I've lost so many inches and gotten so much stronger--even though I'm still overweight, I am in good shape and getting in better shape by the week. And, my plantar fasciitis is gone, too! That's been a great surprise.

I've also been doing Weight Watchers which helped me get control over my eating, especially portion sizes.

I'm only going to do bootcamp one day a week for the next several weeks (because of travels and other conflicts), so I thought I'd join up here for some extra motivation to stay on track. Typically I run or work out at home with weights (when I'm not doing bootcamp).

My big question right now is what goal to set for myself. I want to get to at least 154 which puts me just below 25 BMI, but realistically I want to get much below that. I'm not sure of goals for weight or body fat percentage. I don't have any particular goals in terms of fitness (I'm a slow runner and aiming for 5K when really I prefer to run alone doesn't motivate me). But I do think it would help to have a goal.

Any tips in terms of setting goals?

[Dogen]

Hi Daisy! Welcome! The important thing with goals is that they mean something to you. Your goals will dictate the rest of your program. When you take the time to set goals, you might as well set some good ones. So a good goal is one that is specific, realistic, and measurable. "Run better" is kind of a crappy goal right? How do you know if you've achieved it? "Run 1 mile in 7 minutes" is much better.

It sounds like your initial goals will probably be something that includes fat loss while increasing strength and muscle endurance. The way you introduced yourself was with the things you hold most important. Weight, BF%, BMI, etc. Fat loss sucks -- it's boring and hard and discouraging at times. Dieting and fat loss is something that comes with the territory that you have to deal with up front, but it becomes very "back burner" once you've put in the effort.

It seems like strength and muscle endurance is important to you because you mentioned your boot camps and weights at home. The strength and muscle endurance is the fun stuff. When you're a beginner, you can pick a goal at random and charge after it for as long as you're interested. Then when you get bored you can switch it up! Once you are intermediate or advanced, you have to have some kind of plan to keep improving. And to get to the elite level, you have to stick to that plan... rain or shine.. sore or tired.. doesn't matter. But when you're a beginner it is an exciting time. Every single day you are measurably fitter than the day before it. That is an amazing feeling!

So in summery: for the bodyfat % goal.. it's the same for everyone - look good naked, achieve peak performance. There's a fine line where both of these things happen at once, and it's The Goal. If I could bottle that... yeah. The trick here is going to be pacing yourself and being realistic about how much abuse your lifestyle is willing to take to accomplish this goal and never give up. Weight Watchers is a tried and true method (at least for weight loss on the scale, not necessarily for performance), so if it's working for you, that's great.

For the performance goals, make it fun! Mix it up! Look towards athletics to find the fun goals... the "muscle and fiction" training style is both boring and not very effective. Get a few chin ups, do a few pushups from the toes, figure out how fast you can row 500 meters. How much can you squat? These are all good goals for strength and muscle endurance. They are fun too! Much better than sitting around on some machines watching a TV *gag*

Well I hope I helped you with your goals a little Daisy, feel free to PM if you have more questions.

~D

[Obsessionkilled]

Hi Daisy! Welcome

[daisy]

Dogen, thanks for your thoughtful reply. Right now I am all about fat burning (well, and trying to build some muscle at the same time)--slimming down has been fantastic, actually, and very rewarding. It's been great to go for 2-3 mile runs. Weight Watchers isn't perfect, but it works combined with my own approach to nutrition (whey supplements, focus on proteins and lots of veggies, limit processed foods and sugars), and I can do it free through work, which is a huge plus.

Anyway, you've given me some good stuff to think about, so thanks.

[Obsessionkilled]

I am fellow Weightwatchers person and have been since 2007. I am currently a Lifetime member at goal. You can very easily follow healthy eating while staying in your points budget while losing weight. Good luck